One Seattle City Council race is getting ugly

The contest between Tim Burgess and incumbent David Della is getting to be an ugly fight – perhaps the ugliest council race this year.

Della implies Burgess is a richie-rich and a conservative. Burgess says Della is a weak leader and accuses his campaign of “vicious lies.”

Here are tidbits from the endorsement speeches during the 34th District Democrats meeting Tuesday night that offer a snapshot of each candidate’s strategy and style. (That legislative district includes West Seattle, Burien & Vashon Island.)

During his speech, Burgess complained Della runs a negative campaign of “vicious lies”, just like in 2003, Burgess says. (Burgess contributed $250 to Della’s campaign that year.) He did not identify any such lies. But, as an example of implied distortion, Burgess accused Della’s campaign Wednesday night of distributing copies of a guest editorial Burgess wrote in 2005 about his Christian faith.

Della’s campaign wouldn’t say whether they did that.

(Also, Della backers like to point out that Burgess has made donations to Republican candidates including state Attorney General Rob McKenna. He’s also given to many Democrats.)

Burgess and his backers pitched him as a well-rounded candidate (former journalist, cop, non-profit fundraiser and marketing consultant) with support from some labor and enviros. They said he is capable of being a stronger leader than Della. (One supporter did so quoting directly from Burgess’ stump speech.)

Della’s camp, meanwhile, seeks to depict Burgess as wealthy and conservative. They lauded Della’s social service background (formerly with United Way of King County) & his strong history with labor. They depicted him as a better candidate for the poor & people of color. And they noted that Della supported building a new elevated viaduct – along with a strong majority in West Seattle.